Gigabyte has just announced details of test results that confirm three of its Thunderbolt-enabled Intel Z77 motherboards support 4K resolution video displays. The testing carried out at the company's testing facility in Japan on an Eizo FDH3601 4K display.

The company's Thunderbolt-enabled Intel Z77 chipset motherboards feature dual Thunderbolt ports and for the test setup, the Gigabyte GA-Z77MX-D3H TH board, installed with an Intel Core i7-3770K processor and its integrated Intel HD4000 graphics core, was able to drive the 4K resolution display without the need for any discrete graphics card. Each Thunderbolt port has support for 2K resolution as it complies with the DisplayPort 1.1 standard; hence, when they are combined, they work in tandem to provide a combined resolution of up to 4K.

We do foresee building a high-end home theater system with one of these Gigabyte boards with their dual Thunderbolt ports; however, while driving a 4K resolution display, we would not be able to connect any more Thunderbolt-enabled devices via daisy chaining. Another thing to note is that while 4K video playback may seem impressive, we do hope the company will start pushing the envelope by supporting 3D content on such high resolution as this will enable gamers and AV enthusiasts to invest in these boards for a truly high-end system to meet their needs.

For more information on the Gigabyte Thunderbolt-enabled boards, do head over to their site for more information.